Synopsis Webinar «Law Firm ESG Decisions in a Changing Geopolitical Environment»

ESG, which stands for Environmental, Social and Governance, are evaluation criteria that must be met in order to comply with the various criteria that investors require of certain companies.

It is necessary to clarify that ESG are not standards dictated by national law, i.e. they do not come from a constituted power, such as congresses or assemblies, but are based on the current mercantilist globalization and the demands of world trade.

As far as law firms are concerned, the current geopolitical environment transforms the idea that ESG must adapt to the demands of clients in the context of decisions related to electoral processes, changes in government, new state policies, diplomatic relations, and a changing state of synergy between a country’s public and private institutions.

Clients, as investors, act as entities that may demand conditions to negotiate and accept deals with law firms; in this relationship, geopolitical changes may alter market systems, resulting in ESG evolving and, therefore, clients demanding different types of conditions.

For law firms, the constant change of market systems is not an ideal way to give stability to the relationships they intend to formalize with future clients, because they change the ESG, and these, when changed, evolve the commercial perspective of the clients.

Law firms adopt ideas of change with respect to different political administrations that modify commercial behavior, supply and demand, and the values to be charged in different areas of law. 

The relationships that encompass the commercial acts between law firms and clients are subject to the changes caused by geopolitics, especially regarding immigration policies, the price of oil, imports and exports, as well as the management of the different market strategies for the countries that constitute the major law firms. These are: the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Mexico, France, Japan, and Australia.   

The evolution of commercial laws with respect to ESG guidelines will modify the actions and working policies of law firms around the world.